VINTAGE OC memorizing one verse a month, 12 verses for the year. Then increase and keep going. He also suggests keeping prayer cards with you at all times. You may not have big chunks of time, but you do have “moments,” Bernie says. Pull the cards out when you’re waiting, between classes, on the bus or any time you have a minute or two. “Get the Word in, get the Word out,” Bernie says. “It’s simple.”
BY: ALYSSA MEDLIN magine you’re on a missions trip to Berlin with a couple of friends. Suddenly you feel God telling you to give a stranger some money. Wait a minute, you think. It’s days before our flight home. If we give her our money, what if something happens and we need it? Sound far-fetched? Not quite. Pastor Bernie Elliot, national Bible Quiz coordinator, had this experience. And he obeyed. God rewarded Bernie and his friends. The next day their travel agent refunded an overcharge in the exact amount they gave to the woman. “Reading God’s Word builds faith. [When] the Holy Spirit tells you to do something, just be obedient. You don’t have to understand,”
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Bernie says. Bernie hasn’t always been obedient to God. He wasn’t raised in church. When he was younger, he drank a lot and was full of anger. His marriage was in trouble. As a police officer, Bernie witnessed horrible crimes, and he became cynical and hated the world. Then his partner on the force got saved. Before long, Bernie accepted Jesus, too. “I was 27 and had never read the Bible. I started reading one to two hours a day, including my lunch breaks. I’d call my pastor and say, ‘Do you know what this Book says?!’ Scripture was literally jumping off the pages at me,” Bernie says. Reading the Bible ignited a passion in Bernie that he had to share — with fellow officers, friends and even people they arrested. “Salvation is the greatest miracle. In every
situation, wherever you go, someone needs the Lord. Christ wants to use us to reach people,” Bernie says. “You have to put God’s Word in before you can minister.” Twenty-eight years later, Bernie is still passionate about sharing the Bible. “The more you know Scripture, the more you know the Lord personally, the more faith you have to believe. There’s a correlation between the amount of Scripture you know and the amount God can use you throughout the day,” Bernie says. Bernie tries to memorize one book of the Bible a year. “When you’re walking along throughout the day, Christ brings Scripture to mind,” Bernie says. “He can minister to others through you. The Lord will give you boldness.” As national Bible Quiz coordinator, Bernie helps hundreds of kids each year memorize God’s Word and use it in their everyday lives. “Quizzers become spiritual leaders. They have faith. They believe,” Bernie says. “Show me someone who’s memorized books of the Bible and I’ll show you someone who is being used by God to reach people.” Bernie says anyone can memorize Scripture: “God will strengthen you and help you. I’ve never met someone who can’t memorize Scripture.” To get started, he suggests setting a goal of
VINTAGE reprint from ONCOURSE magazine archives. For more articles on Bible Quiz 50th anniversary go to oncourse.ag.org and visit biblequiz.ag.org
THINK YOUR MEMORY ISN’T UP TO SOAKING IN SCRIPTURE? THINK AGAIN. HERE ARE FIVE TRIED AND TRUE VERSE MEMORIZING TECHNIQUES. 1. Take a verse and break it down by
phrases. Put commas around every phrase. (For example: Romans 10:17: Consequently, faith comes, from hearing, the message, and the message, is heard, through the, word of, Christ.)
2. Always say the reference with the verse. (Romans 10:17)
3. Read the verse slowly in phrases. (Ro-
mans 10:17: Consequently. Consequently, faith comes. Consequently, faith comes from hearing. Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message …)
4. Read the whole verse five times. (Ro-
mans 10:17: Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.)
5. Look away and say the verse five times. Then look back and check yourself.